This is a simple poem about “climbing the corporate ladder.” I am addressing this ‘theme’ in the Ruthless sequel at the moment. I can’t say that I’ve reached the top myself but I have seen the results of others getting there and finding it is a dark place. I definitely feel like I’m somewhere on the stairs right now. I’m considering my next steps carefully.

We’re set upon a winding path the minute we are grown.

We’re led to believe it’s ours to choose and travel on our own.

In actual fact most routes we follow were paved long ago,

by trending fads, society, our family and so –

They guide us into rivalry and lead us to a contest.

We learn that the journey is really about proving we’re the best.

The pathway ends where stairs begin, the goal to take us higher.

If we continue, we’ll reach the top, but our legs will surely tire.

As we climb, the air grows thick, making it hard to see.

We ignore our concerns and stay the path while we struggle just to breathe.

A simple step is harder now, almost an impossible feat.

We stagger on but the dizzying height has really got us beat.

At the top we can move no more but we’ve succeeded where others have failed.

We are the best- superior, blind advancement has prevailed.

Be mindful when you choose your path that each step is your own.

Perhaps when pushed you’d rather take the path that is overgrown.

Starting a book is hard, sticking with it is difficult and finishing it can seem impossible. There are going to be times during the writing process where you think, I shouldn’t be a writer, I hate this book, I’m wasting my time.

If you can push through those negative thoughts and let someone else be the judge of your work then you will probably be pleasantly surprised. It’s natural to doubt your abilities and your work at different times – writing a novel is hard work, it’s tiring and it opens you up to public scrutiny. The closer you get to finishing a book, the more you will unfairly judge your work, in preparation for readers potentially doing the same.

In this post I hope to give budding author’s a few sanity-saving tips for limping through  tough times so they can keep on keeping on.

Tip 1: Do not pour over words or paragraphs trying to make them perfect. They will never be perfect because perfection is in the eye of the beholder. Hopefully you will have many more eyes on your work in the near future. Worry about neatening up sentences and choosing more appropriate or interesting words during your editing phase.

Tip 2: Can’t think of a name, place or brand? Just move on. I like to mark places in my book that I need to revisit (maybe I want to do some research first or I have just got a complete mind-blank) with a double question mark (??). If you spend hours sitting there, not writing because you are trying to think of something that in the greater scheme of your novel is probably quite inconsequential, then you are not going to finish your novel in a reasonable timeframe. The longer you are writing a novel, the more worn down and exhausted you are going to become in the process, which leads into my next tip.

Tip 3: Stay positive. It is ok to criticize your work but ultimately, it doesn’t really matter what you think. What matters is what your readers think, so try and keep things light and upbeat in your head.

Tip 4: Worn out? Stressed? Beating yourself up for not getting enough done? Give yourself a break. Sometimes the best thing to do is to have some time off and give yourself permission not to think about your novel. Come back to it when you feel more refreshed. You’ll lose out on some quantity but you will win some quality.

Tip 5: Don’t take yourself too seriously. Hopefully you are writing a book because you enjoy it, not because you are desperate to be the next J.K Rowling. Take the pressure off and write for kicks!

Tip 6: Feedback is your friend. Get as much as possible. The best source of feedback is a good editor who can make plot line, POV and characterization suggestions. I think it’s best to get an editor looking at your work when you feel you are about 80% complete. I’d recommend letting a family member or good friend have a read of your first 4-5 chapters before then though. When it comes to feedback- the more the merrier, as long as you are not pandering to everyone’s suggestions and consequentially sacrificing your ideas or writing style. My rule of thumb is Editor = Obey, Friends/Family= Consider.

So I hope that helps a little. For those authors who are wallowing in the muddy mire of self doubt, writers block or burnout right now, I say- “keep going! You can do it! The result will be worth it!”

Goodluck.

Step 1) Ask yourself – Is this what I really want to do? There is a common misconception that being a writer is going to launch you into J K Rowling-like fame and make you filthy rich. You must work on the assumption that this is not going to happen to you.

Step 2) Confirm you have actually written something of length or a volume of stories/articles  that mean you have the dedication needed to stick with it. Oh- and make sure other people have read some of this work.

Step 3) Don’t do it. Now now, I am not suggesting you wouldn’t be a fantastic writer and that you couldn’t make money or achieve success, what I am suggesting is that if you haven’t already done it by now, perhaps writing should be/remain your passion and not a job.

Of course I am targeting this post at people like myself- someone who studied an unrelated discipline (computer science in my case), has worked for many years in a non-writing industry and has now discovered that they might just have some talent and passion for writing. If you are a 12-20 year old reading this and you are considering writing as a career- I say go for it! But for the rest of us, who are tempted by a career change, I encourage caution.

I enjoy writing immensely and that is why I spend my weekends (usually only about 8 hours at my local cafe) doing it. My work week is spent making money doing something I am trained for and have spent many years getting good at. I’ve often found myself day dreaming about what it would be like to be a full time writer but I know my visions of casually typing up a novel over an all day breakfast are unrealistic. The truth is- once something becomes your full time job, it means there is an added pressure to be disciplined in order to make $$.

My sister bought me an awesome book called So good they can’t ignore you, by Cal Newport and it has really opened my eyes on this subject. Your job, doesn’t have to be your passion and vice-versa. Throwing yourself into your new passion and forcing it to be a job can cause it to stop being your passion. Think about it.

After reading what seems like every single blog post and article on the subject, I still don’t know whether I should sign up for KDP Select or not. Every scathing review has an opposing  tribute, every word of warning is dimmed by a success story. I just don’t know.

I am one of these people who doesn’t like to shop at the giant supermarkets if I can help it- and if I have to shop there I refuse to by their “home brand”. KDP Select smells somewhat like the beginning of one of these giant retailers that stack their shelves at eye height with their own, well disguised brands and make you have to ask for assistance to reach anything else.

Indie authors are lured in with the promise of big $ale$ supported by lending (that counts towards sales rankings) and five free promotion days. In return they must sell their ebook exclusively via KDP (with the decision to renew every 3 months).

If you are like me, that is not such an issue because you have just released your ebook and you don’t have any sales cred to lose by cancelling your distribution through other retailers (such as Apple and B&N). In that case, shouldn’t the decision be easy? Not for me, because I still have concerns about the long term future of indie ebook publishing. If readers can’t find titles they want on other retail sites then why would they return? KDP has everything they need. Dare I use the M word here? If KDP ends up having a monopoly on ebook publishing, then indie authors end up with no choice. No choice means that KDP can do what ever they want. They could sell our books for what ever price they feel is right and there would be nothing authors could do about it.

It’s a scary thought and I’m hoping an overly imaginative one. Perhaps if authors pushed back and wrote to KDP about concerns such as these, there may be a change in their policy. Authors should have the right to sell their ebooks through as many retailers/distributors as possible- let’s face it, we need all the help we can get. In my opinion KDP should stand out as a leader because of its sales records and opportunities not because it’s the only horse in the race.

There are plenty of good articles/posts on the subject but I have listed just a few here (good and bad). I will post an update soon with my decision and hopefully some positive results.

http://publishingperspectives.com/2012/01/is-kdp-select-salvation-or-damnation-for-indie-authors

http://blog.smashwords.com/2011/12/amazon-shows-predatory-spots-with-kdp.html

http://selfpublishingadvice.org/blog/amazon-plays-indie-authors-like-pawns/

http://karol.gajda.com/kdp-select/

http://skipjackpublishing.com/interesting-and-not-in-a-good-way/

For the longest time now I’ve wanted to write about how games have been an important and joyous part of my life. I’ve put it off for so long because, to give it justice, I would need several hours of writing time that I just can’t justify stripping from the Ruthless series sequel I’m currently working on. After attending an amazing event at the University of Western Australia’s writers festival today, I’ve decided I’m just going to put down everything I can and add to it over time (as I slowly remember games I’ll no doubt forget to include below). Today was spent watching Hex and Bajo from Good Game, interview a number of amazing, interesting and super intelligent game designers and writers (from Bio Shock, Freedom Cry and Far Cry). So now I am inspired!

Below I will mention my most memorable games but I’ve played many many more. I have avoided some because of their addictive and all encompassing nature (I know my weakness and I’m not interested in waking up in a pool of my own filth one day). I hope my gaming story makes you remember your own and perhaps- encourages you to write it down and share it 🙂

I first discovered “video games” when I was about seven years old -that was in 1990. Every year, my family used to stay in a big camping and cabin resort in the South West of WA. We would stay there every Easter with a number of other family friends who all had kids around my older sister’s age. I was the youngest by almost three years, which at that age was quite a significant gap. While the other kids went horse riding, played tennis and pool- activities that meant my size (I was tiny compared to your average seven year old) and my intellectual age were a serious handicap, I preferred to spend my time in the games room- playing arcade games I could barely reach.

I remember wrapping my small, clammy fingers around the joystick of Ghouls and Goblins and plugging piece after twenty-cent piece into the machine. One year I was delighted to find that they had two new games at the camp- Golden Axe and Double Dragon. GA quickly became my new favorite and without fail I would chose to play as the only female character- slaying skeletons, using magic spells and kicking tiny gnomes in the tush for potions and chicken drumsticks. Arcade games were mesmerising to me and if I wasn’t playing them, I was watching someone else play them. Consequently, I had my 8^th birthday at Timezone- an arcade where my four best friends and I had free reign to play any games we wanted for two full hours.

One magical Christmas, my cousins got a Commodore Amiga 500. Introducing the PC. Family interaction became secondary to playing Gianna sisters until I puked (I really did play for so long one afternoon that I was sick). My parents eventually caved and bought one for our family. That day I was lost to the world of games forever. The only known Amiga shop in Perth, which was not so close to our house, sold copied games on single floppy disks, second-hand adventures in frayed boxes and of course those awe inspiring plastic wrapped packages filled with disks, maps, code books and guides that had yet to be drooled on by pre-pubescent gamers. It was a good day indeed when my father took me to that shop. Even if we only came away with a $2 copy- I was ecstatic and couldn’t wait to get home and play it.

I played unknown games like Amoeba, Bally and text adventures such as Sorcerer but also the classics like Lemmings, Indiana Jones, Superfrog, Bubble Bobble and F18 Interceptor. My great love was for the epic Sierra RPGs like King’s Quest, Hero’s Quest, Quest for Glory, Space Quest and even Leisure suit Larry.

I had not yet discovered the console. I had only played Altered Beast on a Sega Mega drive at a friend’s house, which I found intriguing but I still preferred to play on my Amiga. I would play PC games from sun up to sun down and although my parents periodically protested, I am forever grateful that they recognized my passion and for the most part, let me be.

When I was twelve years old I made a friend who owned a Nintendo. I made sure that I maintained a friendship around the use of the Nintendo for fear that I would lose access to the Nintendo forever. Snake Rattle and Roll was my favourite. She didn’t have Mario brothers. I also made another friend who was completely uninterested in games but she had an older brother who was quite the opposite. Soon I was head-over-heels in love with him.

Any opportunity to compare notes on a PC game we were both playing (because I had found out what he was playing and saved up to buy it myself) was a heavenly and uplifting moment. As a serious teenage gamer- one that had money to spend on games and time to expend in a dark, smelly room- my crush was an inspiration and a guide into my own teenage gaming life. When he bought a PlayStation and let me play Loaded and then Reloaded with him and two friends on a Saturday night, I started saving my pennies.

I eventually saved up and bought a second-hand Super Nintendo and Yoshi’s Island. I played that constantly until I finished it. I later brought Donkey Kong, which I also obsessed over until I’d finished. By this time, I was about fourteen years old and I’d made plenty of girlfriends who had no interest in games. Eventually when I realised my crush had no interest in me, I suddenly lost interest in games myself. I didn’t play games of any kind for  five long years. 😦

When I was nineteen or twenty, my boyfriend bought me an Xbox for Christmas. That was a pretty awesome gift (I consequently married him nine years later). I was back on board. I started playing Starsky and Hutch, The Matrix, Call of Cthulhu, Splinter cell, Time Splitters, Halo, Halo and more Halo!

From then on I dabbled in games between computer-science university lectures, worldly travel and eventually a full time job. I began as a web developer and consequently met plenty of like-minded gamers (to varying degrees) in my career. Gaming was no longer an obsession but an excellent casual pastime, a great conversation topic and I’d even roped my partner into playing with me, so occasionally it was a fun Saturday night in.

At around twenty-seven, I discovered DOSBox. So many of those old games still tugged on my heart strings so I revived a few such as Elder Scrolls: Daggerfall and Legend of Kyrandia. They weren’t quite like I’d remembered them (how times had changed) but I still thoroughly enjoyed the trip down memory lane.

Back to consoles- I ended up jumping a generation or two and finally purchased a PlayStation 3. Again I fell in love with games. One of the first games I played was God of War. Wow. How I love that game. I was later gifted Heavy Rain for Christmas by my super husband and that is what I played exclusively until I finished it. I dabbled in Little Big Planet (everyone should) and got more deeply involved in Borderlands 2 and then Portal 2 (angel harps playing here).

Right now, as of February 22^nd 2014 I am working my way through The Last of Us. All I can say about that is I am no good at being stealthy and I therefore attract clickers like flies to poop. Speaking of poop- The Last of Us is a truly pants-pooping game.

I am ashamed to say that I already have my eye on another game and will likely get my hands on Gone Home much before I finish The Last of Us. In fact, maybe I’ll just download it now…

Still in love with those nerdy gamer dudes. My hero- Bajo from Good Game

 

I have made an amazing discovery. I have found the best kind of proofer. Professional editor? English literature professor? Publisher?…

No- someone who has never read a book in their life. That’s right. If you are at the stage where your book needs a really good reading and you have exhausted your “industry” resources, then find someone who is capable of reading but is just generally uninterested.

I stumbled upon this pearl when my husband, who has read two books in his life (both by force at school), offered to proof my book. At first I was horrified and I admit, somewhat snobbish about it. First of all, do I want someone who has no concept of storyline, plot or characterisation critiquing my book? Secondly- THE PRESSURE! “Welcome to books, non-book-reader man. Try this one as the very first book you’ve read in your adult life and then openly hate it- not because it sucks, but just because you clearly dang-well hate books.”

Anyway, I eventually swallowed my pride and my husband got to reading. By this stage, the book (Ruthless) had been proof read by:

2 professional editors

a Journalist/Editor

An English teacher

Approx 5 friends and…

me (like 200 times already).

Mr Reading-is-new-to-me actually found more typos and missing words then any of these people combined. It was mind blowing! The only way I can explain it is that he reads every single word and doesn’t assume anything. I on the other hand, now know that I read words that are only in my head. I make assumptions and fill in the gaps when I read.

A valuable lesson learned. If you haven’t got any non-reader friends then start looking. I suggest attending a “The film was better” club and buttering up a book basher. Suggest that they read your book so they can accurately argue with those misguided book-readers, much like atheists who read the bible. It’s a winner.

My new novel- Ruthless is now available in print on as an eBook via Amazon.com.

Just click here and pick yourself up a copy!

Scattered in tiny pieces all over the place! So many people have said to me recently- “I’ve always wanted to write a book but I don’t have time.” Well I say- “Pish posh!” No one has time unless they have a sugar daddy or sugar mamma looking after their every need, and even then there are nails to paint and hair-dos to maintain.

I wrote my book Ruthless over 3 years- purely in my spare time. You should be aware that I am not that free and easy with my free time- I am pretty selfish with it. But, the point is that if you plug away at it, eventually you will get it done. So what if it’s 10 years later? If you’ve always wanted to write a book- then writing it in 10 years is better than NEVER writing it!

So get to it would-be-authors!

Released all the way back in 2012, this game is worth playing anytime you can get your hands on it. Whether you are a fan of the series or not, this is a great place to start or get back to your MK roots. The story mode gives you a good back history of the series and slowly- each of the characters. You also have the good ol Krypt that allows you to unlock some sweet stuff like new endings, costumes and best of all – kick-ass character fatalities. There is some lame stuff speckled amongst the screaming tortured souls of the Krypt so I  suggest having a look at a walk-through site such as this, so you avoid the crud and only spend your hard earned coin on pure awesomeness.

Speaking of pure awesomeness… Freddy Krueger and Kratos. Need I say more?

Kicking ass has never been more fun with improved beat-down moves and x-ray attacks, which are hilarious because the character on the receiving end somehow manages to keep fighting with a broken neck and two broken legs- hardcore! Best of all, you’ve got some really gory fatalities that will make you scream “Yes!”

On to graphics- zero complaints. The backgrounds are really interesting and ghoulish (if you have time to sneak a peek mid-match). The characters look amazing and in my opinion- realistic (or as realistic as you want them to be). Their movement is fluid and adds to the awesomeness of attacks.

All previous DLC is included in this Komplete edition so you just put it in and play! Be prepared for some sore thumbs-ups.